Too Many Humans Are Too Darned Stupid: HOA Wants Kids Banned From Playing Outside

[HuckleB]

http://www.clickorlando.com/family/27381829/detail.html?source=orlpn

"A Central Florida homeowners association is preparing to vote on banning children from playing outside.

The revamped rules and regulations are being considered by the HOA at the Persimmon Place subdivision on North Ridgewood Avenue in Edgewater. The neighborhood consists of 48 townhomes surrounded by a parking lot and little room for children to play.

"I think it's ridiculous. I think the kids should be allowed to play," a resident said.

"I think people forgot what it was like to be a kid and want to go outside and play," said resident Shawna Magee, who is fighting the proposal.

..."


--------------------------------------------


This is human society devolving before our eyes.

SHEESH!

[David__77]

1. I don't know all the details, but I don't think this sounds bad.

I have lived in a condo where our HOA did not allow unsupervised play and wheeled toys in common areas. There was a park across the street that was appropriate for play.

[HuckleB]

2. Hello?

Humanity awaits your visit.

:wow:

[David__77]

4. Please, educate me.

I want to hear people's opinions. I have lived in a place before where people's children left their toys out all over the place, obstructing pathways, and were running around, not very considerate of others. Now, I didn't really care too much, but I had some elderly neighbors, and I could understand how they might not care for that. Also, there is sometimes a real safety issue. There were children playing in the street. I guess I think that supervised play in places set up for that is best. If you live in a house, the back yard is best, if you don't then parks are great...

[HuckleB]

8. They might not care for that?

What planet are you from?

Seriously.

[David__77]

11. The one where I'm not around kids?

I'm gay and don't expect to ever adopt kids. My brother is straight and decided not have kids. I generally go to restaurants where kids don't go. And I have lived in places and neighborhoods where there are few kids. I never thought about it consciously, but I guess that impacts how I view this. I don't think there's anything wrong with my own personal choices...

[HuckleB]

12. Newsflash: This is planet earth.

Humans come in all sizes, shapes, sexual identities AND ages.

[David__77]

13. Can you agree children shouldnot play in the street at least?

I don't think that's safe. You don't need to be curt. I know this is earth and there are children. When I was a kid I didn't play in the street or any of that stuff and I had plenty of fun.

[HuckleB]

14. Why not?

I played in the street. Millions of children have played in the street. Have you ever heard of a great old game called stickball?

I do hope you had fun as a kid, but your prior posts make me doubt that.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[blueamy66]

46. hide and seek, kick the can,

tackle football

You name it, we played it in the street, in Arizona, without shoes on our feet. Oh the Horror!

[JoePhilly]

28. Ever live in a Philly row home? I'm betting no.

We played in the street every day.

[The Backlash Cometh]

38. In some places, it's the only place left to play. All the available space

was taken through fraud and breaches of fiduciary responsibility.

When I was a kid, there was a lot of open space. Not anymore.

[Gormy Cuss]

41. When kids play in the street routinely, drivers expect it and drive accordingly.

Kids also develop a pretty good awareness of cars too.

I live on a side street now where kids play in the street every day. In fact, kids play on all the side streets here. These aren't cul-de-sacs, they're two lane roads connecting to other two lane roads.

The same was true where I grew up in a more urban environment. The streets were secondary roads used by cars and trucks trying to bypass a major road. Street hockey was a big activity, as was popping wheelies. Across the street there was a playground. We used that too, but the playground wasn't conducive to the above activities.

[blondeatlast]

77. See: "Wayne's World." I laughed, that's pretty much how we did our

roller skating back in the day.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

55. Watch this documentary on NYC stickball.

"Bragging Rights is an hour-long video documentary that chronicles how the New York City game of stickball has developed leadership, mended racial tension, and created lifelong friendships throughout it's long and vibrant history."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310794/

I grew up in a Wonder Years suburb with lots of kids playing in the street -- biking, skating, skateboarding, street hockey, jump rope, hopscotch, etc. Hell, even the adults set up a volleyball net Sunday nights after dinner during the summer. GOOD TIMES, and somehow we all managed to survive.

[JackRiddler]

82. I played in the street as a kid and the only problem was the damn cars...

of which there are many more today, making it much harder for kids to play.

The cars should be thrown out of the population centers, not the people barred from the streets.

[The Backlash Cometh]

37. There are Senior only places availabe for people with your preference,

[JackRiddler]

84. Also graveyards and battle zones.

[HuckleB]

85. Say what?

:shrug:

[tallahasseedem]

134. What's next...

"colored only" water fountains? And, you know, there are plenty of people whose "personal choices" would like you obliterated from the planet.

[seabeyond]

20. walk around. that simple. surely we can afford that amount of grace on the few, rare

occassions we meet an obstacle in our path. we dont need to be such a selfish, self absorbed people

[blueamy66]

66. perfectly said

:-)

[HuckleB]

68. +1

[blueamy66]

23. The elderly should move to a senior only

neighborhood or housing area that doesn't allow children....if they have a problem with children.

Shit, our kids need exercise....they don't need to park their asses in front of a computer 24/7.

[GReedDiamond]

3. "Get off my 'common areas'...

...you little whippersnappers!"

[999998th word]

16. I have to tolerate the HOA from hell also.Now I'm on the board

<2 bldgs. 24 units ea bldg>. I'm the only rep from my bldg..
It's STILL the HOA from hell.The pres. is an egomaniacal condescending
blowhard .They own multiple properties in their bldg.+only want to spend
to improve their bldg.A lot of petty shit +nastiness.
Word of advice to DUers-If you ever have the urge to buy a condo,resist.
If the urge is overwhelming check the financials+go to an owners meeting
yourself to see how they solve problems.
I dont like all those controlling f*cks telling me I cant even have a fishtank
IN MY OWN "HOUSE'!!-no pets-of any kind,would looove to have another dog.
I wish I had that advice before I bought.
rule#1 CONDO LIFE SUCKS
rule#2 see rule#1

[The Backlash Cometh]

39. You and I can hang. It's exactly like that.

[Gormy Cuss]

34. Sounds like you were a perfect tenant for that HOA.

Most people wouldn't stand for that level of HOA interference.

[The Backlash Cometh]

36. David, what we're seeing in Florida is the old farts creating gangs, or cabals

and TAKING OVER whatever common areas exist in the community. You can't fight them because they're very connected in the community.

[bluestateguy]

5. Homeowners associations: old farts with too much time on their hands

In my parents neighborhood there is an old fart with the HOA who drives around the neighborhood looking for violations he can then issue as citations.

Get a life buddy!

[David__77]

6. I liked the old ladies in my association.

But they were sort of little fascists. Not long ago, I went to the "21 and over" pool and there was a group of older ladies active in the HOA there. They looked at (mind you, I am definitely over 21!), and they said "THIS IS THE 21 AND OVER POOL!" I had to say that I AM over 21! lol... They didn't want their cultural space infringed on. So it's not just about children. We had the rules against playing in the parking and common areas, but there were no children in the complex that I saw anyway.

[HuckleB]

9. And you don't find that incredibly bizarre?

:wow:

[Drahthaardogs]

22. They sound like a bunch of nasty old women if you ask me

I would have told them to come and check my ID, but since I am in swim trunks, there is only one place to carry it. Would have asked for volunteers. Cultural space? Do people really take themselves that seriously?

[Mariana]

17. Who even wants to live around people like that?

I looked at a house once, and found out there were more than 100 PAGES of restrictions. Fuck that.

[pnwmom]

7. This should be illegal. How can they do that to people

who are already living there?

[HuckleB]

10. People?

What people?

As long as all the houses are the exact same tint of beige, apparently all the "people" will be happy!

[horsehead]

15. Not gonna lie...

I kind of wish we had something similar to this in the apartments I recently moved into.

The people do have their own (very small) back yards, and if they actually used them that would be fine... but they all have little kids and they let them just run around around aimlessly in the parking lot. I mean they literally just run in circles screaming their heads off. Or else they're playing games or riding their trikes or whatever, directly in the path of traffic.

Now of course, this isn't in some nicey-nice neighborhood, in fact pretty much the entire complex is err... "shady." The cops are around every other day. People break their beer bottles and leave the glass lying around. The parking lot isn't very big and there are too many close calls with kids popping out in front of drivers from behind parked cars... And the ridiculous thing is that there's a REALLY nice park DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET. It's beautiful, well maintained, there's a playground and it's full of green grass, blooming cherry trees, little white daisies and rabbits hopping around.

But these parents just let their kids flail around in the dingy parking lot. They're barely "supervised." Most of the time their parents just stand around looking miserable with a cigarette hanging out of their mouth, letting their kids pretty much do whatever. There's no excuse for them to not take them to the park instead.

So in an ideal world where parents would be forced to take some kind of responsibility for their kids, I can see the argument for something like this...

...but they'll probably just keep their kids inside playing video games rather than get up off their lazy asses and take them anywhere.

Oh well.

[HuckleB]

53. Why do they need to be supervised?

Kids have played outdoors without adult supervision for most of human history. It's only the past 20 years, when we've let fear rule that people think kids must be supervised at all times until they turn 18.

[melm00se]

18. HOAs

arelike any leadership organization can be for good or ill.

it all depends upon who is running it.

unfortunately most residents don't give a crap about who is on their board.

How many people actually got to their HOAs annual meeting? I rarely go to the monthly meetings but do go to the annual. I live in a planned development with 2 HOAs covering my home (the big one that covers 3000 families and a sub-HOA that covers 150. at the annual meetings you might see a couple of hundred or so folks at the big one and 10 or 15 folks at the other.

HOAs should be treated just like government elections. If you don't participate (by actually voting rather than signing the proxy which grants your votes to the board president) and something wacky happens (like above) you have no one to blame but yourself.

My HOA (the sub one) really does some good things.

- They make sure that there is no overnight, on street parking (kids and cars parked on the street = a disaster waiting to happen. Kids popping out from behind parked cars eventually leads to a kid hit by a car)

- hired private security to patrol the neighborhood (cut vandalism to nothing, ditto for the kids who use our dead end road as a drag strip and littering - I had had enough of picking up empty beer bottles off my side lawn)

- enforce the existing covenants: like rednecks and their chicken wire fences, almost junked cars sitting in driveways (if you want a project car work on it/store it in your garage...we all have them)

- set up holiday parties for the various common areas

- maintain our clubhouse and pool (and make sure that both don't become centers for kids drinking beer and smoking dope - a problem we had in the past)

and the like.

[blueamy66]

67. I'm surprised that your HOA has any control over parking

on city streets...unless you live in a condo or the like.....

My HOA can't do anything about the 15 cars that park in front of my house....the ones that are using the gym equipment that my lovely neighbor has in his garage.

[HuckleB]

69. How big is your house?

15 cars! Wow!

;)

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[blueamy66]

71. It's 1600 sq. feet.

The neighbors 3 houses down have turned their garage into a gym. On a Friday afternoon, there are at least 15 cars there....all steroided out fat heads. I've called the city and the cops....they have called the cops on me too. So now I just try to ignore it and hope they loose their house. :-)

[HuckleB]

74. That would be annoying.

If only a cadre of kids were around to laugh at the goofy-looking behemoths!

:)

[blueamy66]

76. Well, they bring their kids too.

And let them run crazy in the street.

Hey, I like kids....I just don't like having to jockey around to try to get into my driveway.

And they put pylons in the street for their "sprints". One of these days...... :-)

[HuckleB]

78. I don't mind jockeying around kids in my neighborhood.

They've got to get out and do they're thing. Now, putting pylons in the street is a whole different story.

[blueamy66]

79. I don't mind the kids either....if they lived on my street.

But when these guidos bring them and let them run wild while they're pumping iron....that bugs me a bit.

[melm00se]

87. i live in

a deed restricted development.

basically "we" own most of the streets off the main thoroughfares that enter our community (no it's not gated).

you get 3 warnings then a tow.

[ipaint]

19. I clean the toilets of those middle class and above who live in HOA controlled and/or

gated communities for just over minimum wage. What a sheltered, restricted, artificially "safe" way to live.
Sterile and controlled. It reminds me of the phoniness of disneyland. All facade and pretend to keep the real world at bay. It's no wonder these people have no clue how the majority class of working slaves live, we are sanitized out of the neighborhood except to enter only to clean or mow or babysit.

I grew up in the 60's in a new development of small ranch homes, no such thing as HOA's or gated communities, thank god. We roamed the neighborhood, cut through neighbor's yards, played everywhere. If some stick in the mud had a problem with that it was THEIR problem not mine or my parents. None of the parents supervised their kids. There were a few houses with messy yards, too many cars, toys everywhere, wild colors on the houses, etc. Again they where allowed to exist and if someone had a problem with that, too bad.

The comfy protected middle class is on it's way out. Best get used to living around all sorts of folks from the "lower" classes.

[blueamy66]

24. Heck, we used to jump fences and swim in neighbors' pools

even though we had our own.

Kids' lives these days suck. They're too sheltered and have no fun.

[The Backlash Cometh]

40. I blame that on Amendment 2.

[Cid_B]

93. That was random...

Really really random...

[themadstork]

43. No kidding. The sterility is overwhelming, disgusting.

My aunt and her family lives in a community like that. White people as far as the eye can see. Their kids become perfectly oblivious Republican drones. They will probably go their entire lives without ever knowing what the fucking working class is, let alone what life's like for them. This despite the fact that our grandpa was a Mexican immigrant who toiled his entire life for his family. He was a chick-sexer, and he worked so fucking hard that in the prime of his career he was one of the most skilled and most thorough chick-sexers in the general Midwest. Without him my aunt would have never stepped foot in college, let alone come to inhabit her perfect little bubble of whiteness (there's enough white blood in us that we pass as unusually tan white people).

Growing up in the country is less than ideal in some ways, but at least I was free to play around in the woods and isolated enough from the town's reactionaries to read whatever "heretical" books I pleased.

[Zebedeo]

44. "white people as far as the eye can see"

Don't forget the Asians - and the Joos! :sarcasm:

[gejohnston]

63. Or people like me

with no class at all. I always wanted to rent a house in one of these places for a month just to do the whole Beverly Hillbillies (OK, showing my age) stunt. I got the beat up pick up, guns, just need a couple of blood hounds.:beer:

[999998th word]

89. Yeah I want to do the ''toilet bowl planter-painted tire planter-rusty weber kettle planter'

I'm full of ideas, cant stand the smug-as long as it looks good- control thing.Thats why
I'll never win the lottery.I would have too much fun with that.
As it is my HOA won't 'allow us to have pets< didnt know when I bought 10 yrs ago>..yeah
I know. I put a BEWARE OF DOG sign on my front door.Pure spite.

[RagAss]

21. Del Boca Vista !

[mopinko]

25. this is why i bought a house in a shitty, lawless

neighborhood in the big city. i was raised in the burbs, and i hated it. it was better when i was a kid where we sure enough played in the streets. we knew which ones were dangerous and which ones were less traveled and where we would not be interrupted. but by the time is was a teenagers, i figured out that i was never going to conform to the attitudes there.
it's a shame kids are not free anymore.
i hope this hoa gets sued.

[MineralMan]

27. Me, too. When my wife and I moved to Minnesota, we bought

a house in a Saint Paul neighborhood built up in the 1950s. Kids are still playing in the streets, cutting through yards, and all that stuff. It's great! We keep our draperies open on the front picture window (blast from the past) and watch the parade. It's always entertaining. Kids screaming, the young couple across the street arguing with each other in their front yard. I love it all!

[mopinko]

31. it just makes me shake my head that these people

are trying to get rid of the kids, but a video of laughing babies goes viral in a day.

[MineralMan]

32. Yeah, I don't get it either. Some people must live sad,

miserable lives, I think. Too bad for them. I've never had children, so I enjoy seeing and hearing other people's kids.

[mythology]

62. Well those kids can be turned off with a click

Of course I personally don't like loud children, but as long as I still have my headphones and they don't actually interfere with me I can usually just ignore them.

I try to understand that children will be (in my opinion) obnoxiously loud, but I also understand that my opinion isn't shared by others. However I far too often see children that aren't being respectful of others or being safe by not running in front of others or leaving their stuff all over the place for others to trip over.

[HuckleB]

65. What boggles my mind, over and over again, is that adults tend to be far louder...

... and often far more clueless. Yet, some people focus on kids.

Logic is missing from this equation.

[The Backlash Cometh]

42. You made my day.

Of course, the only negative where I live is that the young kids are well trained by their racist fathers and grandfathers. Can't tell you what it feels like when a grandkid stands on a wall to watch you as you're gardening to make sure you're not too close to their friends border. Or how it feels when you hear from your eighty year old dad who just lost his wife that he was stopped down the road when he was walking the dog. How a ten year old boy saw him and went in to get his dad who came out to tell my father that this was private property.

So, I don't mind normal activity from kids. But where there are racists living in the area, it might not be such a pleasant experience.

[MineralMan]

26. I wonder if this townhome development started out as an

adults-only thing, then morphed into a different configuration. That happens, sometimes. It's still incredibly stupid.

[Chris_Texas]

30. I support moving the elderly to special homes where they can be kept inside, away from children

[Le Taz Hot]

95. Which implies that all elderly hate children.

Nice broad brush you're using there. :eyes:

[tpsbmam]

114. Please tell me you just forgot to click on the sarcasm smiley

If you're serious, then your post thoroughly disgusts me.

[Flubadubya]

33. You damned kids get off my lawn!!!

[Arugula Latte]

130. "And get off YOUR lawn, too, dagnabbit!"

[The Backlash Cometh]

35. I absolutely believe this.

Of course, they'll figure out it's just easier to yell at the kids and create a hostile environment. It's what they do anyways.

[HuckleB]

48. It's an odd culture that we've created.

[The Backlash Cometh]

50. You have no idea how sophisticated this has become.

Behind what they're doing is adverse possession. They get pseudo interpretations of the laws from dirty lawyers. And then based on their understanding of the law, they form alliances and take over the board of H.O.A.s to do what they can't do easily as individuals. And if you think you can get a lawyer to combat them, you end up with a lawyer that has a conflict of interest and won't tell you about it. You figure it all out after the statute of limitations has run out.

[-..__...]

45. HOA's suck, but this idea I can live with.

Myself... I own a 3 unit apartment building in a moderately quiet urban neighborhood.

I live on the top floor, and the other two units are rentals.

Over the past several years, tenants have come and gone and in all those times it's been a peaceful coexistence.

Wanna know? Because I go the extra mile to not rent to families with children.

Call me a "monster" or child hater if you will, but given a choice between hearing jack-hammers, lawn mowers, construction equipment and screaming, squealing children... I'll take the former and day.

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[-..__...]

56. I have my rights too...

one of them is not having to listen to and deal with kids at any given time of the day or night (you realize the jack hammer comparison is a joke?
I do hate construction noise... only slightly less than listening to kids).

[HuckleB]

64. Wow!

You show your bigotry for all to see, including clearly excluding people from housing for baseless reasons, and you convince DU to delete the response that simply calls you on that bigotry?

Seriously?

WOW!

:wow:

[-..__...]

136. Uhhmmmm... I beg your pardon?

I "convinced" DU to delete your response?

Sorry, pal... that didn't happen.

I've been here roughly 7 years with over 6,000 posts, and never once have I ever "alerted", complained, bitched to the mods or admins about anyones posts or comments no matter what the content was.

The thought of doing so has never even entered my mind... it's not my style.

(FWIW... I don't even recall what it was that got deleted).

As for the rest of your nonsense, it seems that you're all alone (or in the minority), in the belief that my position is "bigoted" and "baseless".

If not... I would have been dog-piled 50+ posts ago.

So yeah... "Seriously".

[supernova]

49. They want to make it Adults Only

Kids have to play outside. We all do actually. But we can drive to P&R areas, kids can't without supervision.

This is a good way of telling the existing families to go elsewhere.

I wouldn't want to live there but that seems to be what's happening.

[HuckleB]

51. Well, trying to sell a home in Florida, or anywhere, right now is not an easy feat.

So I doubt those families have much choice right now.

[supernova]

52. Oh, it's not a smart move

but, when were HOAs ever smart?

:D

[HuckleB]

60. +1

[madmom]

54. I grew up in the suburbs of Columbus Ohio. I lived in a very diverse neighborhood. There

were several Italian families, a Vietnamese family, a German family and many that I have no idea "what" they were. Also very diverse as far a religion goes. We called the neighborhood the united nations. We all had pretty good sized backyards NONE were fenced in, we would play football there. We also played (the whole neighborhood, kids of all ages) kick the can in the middle of the street. It was a very fun time. A family moved in in the middle of the block, they seemed a pit snooty, if you know what I mean by that. First thing they did was put up a fence around their backyard, so much for our football games. My parents went to their house ONCE for a neighborhood get together. Their living room was ALL white with a piece of plastic hanging over the doorway to keep kids and whatever else out (even their own were not allowed in there).These people could not understand why their kids felt left out. Our neighborhood was one big happy family, until they moved in and put up walls and they could not understand why people acted "different" toward them. These are the kind of people who no doubt belong in condos with HOAs.:rant:

Sorry about the rant but some people just don't understand the meaning of community I guess.

[HuckleB]

57. It's something that so many people now alive never experienced.

Now they're fearful of everyone. They can't comprehend that developing community makes everyone safer.

[blueamy66]

70. We grew up the same way.

My fiance has stories as long as his arm....grew up in NW Indy. When his friends and family come to visit we talk for HOURS and laugh our asses off. Concussions from playing hockey on the frozen river across the street, Babe Ruth baseball in the park, the first color tv - hiding in the bushes of the house that had it and watching with eyes the size of saucers, EVERYONE at the dinner table with meat, potato and veggie....baseball cards.....staying out until the porch light came on,

I would hate to be a kid these days. They are missing so much...

[HuckleB]

72. Fear has taken so much away from those who know no better.

It sucks.

[blueamy66]

73. Yes, I agree.

Fear has screwed up our children.

It's the media, I believe.

[999998th word]

90. When I was a kid we had all kinds of unsupervised fun playing in alleys.

One of many fond memories was shopping cart demo derby.One sat inside cart and one driver
minimum 2 carts,sometimes got a little banged up but we always ended up OK.Just part of being a kid.
I guess,in new developments alleys are considered obsolete.

[blueamy66]

98. That's a new one for me

Sounds like it was fun!

[cognoscere]

58. Given the increasing amount of radioactive shit in the air from Japan,

it might not be a bad idea...for the time being.

[HuckleB]

59. Yeah, sitting around indoors, on their butts, is so much better.

:eyes:

[Zanzoobar]

61. Persimmon? Parsimonious, perhaps. Persnickety, probably.

Perverted, positively.

[blondeatlast]

75. I once was part of an HOA where some homeowners didn't want speed limits on the streets

because kids "shouldn't be playing on them anyway." this was actually a something that came to a vote (and was, mercifully rejected).

[HuckleB]

80. Wow!

:wow:

[Nevernose]

81. "Kids playing" can be a bad thing, seriously

Our HOA had this argument just a few years ago. Many people wanted to ban children from playing outside altogether within our community of 100 townhomes.

My daughter was still young enough to play outside (mostlt now she just wants money and rides places :) ), so I joined the board and talked some sense. But I also listened and learned quite a bit.

Little kids playing next to other people's bedroom windows. We had to make a rule for that, because outside is techinically common property and the homeowners had no right to tell the kids to leave.

Kids riding bikes and playing ball in the middle of the street, endangering themselves. Since there's only 1 entrance, we compromised and said kids couldn't play on the main entrance street or near the gates (which left them four other smaller streets and a variety of parking lots, driveways, and culdesacs).

Due to property damage, we had to make a rule for everyone to stay off of other peoples sidewalks ( a weird design, they're mostly only useful for the homeowner to walk from her own garage to her side door, and of no use to anyone else).

We had to make a rule banning outdoor play after 30 minutes post-sundown, because otherwise there would be 7 year olds out raising hell at midnight.

We had to make a rule about noise: people of any age are to avoid screaming loudly outside if at all possible.

We had to make a rule about climbing: the pool house, the fences, other peoples homes, serious damage was occurring.

The rule that still makes me mad at parents? No children under five allowed to play outside without supervision of someone at least 14 years of age (an older sibling or babysitter). There were children still in diapers allowed to ride their tricycles wherever they wanted to, including blocks away and totally out of "range" for their parents.

[HuckleB]

86. I don't even know where to start.

But that is the most bizarre post I've read in some time. Newsflash: One kid whose parent is in need of help might have left a kid to ride a tricycle that far when still in diapers, but this was not an actual problem. This was propaganda. Much of the rest is in the same category.

[Nevernose]

94. Those things really happened. Frequently.

These were not rare incidents. Little kids, kids not old enough to go to kindergarten, riding plastic big wheel things and bikes with training wheels. Everywhere. If you need more proof, they're a little older now, but I can take pictures tomorrow :) .

The fact that there are some genuinely shitty parents in the world is not propaganda. Granted, banning kids from playing outside is just stupid, but you'd be amazed at the kind of stupid stuff an HOA board has to deal with regularly.

[HuckleB]

128. Baloney.

[Xenotime]

125. It really sounds like more control is the answer to certain situations.

There is no need for children to be out after dark. It's just too dangerous.

[HuckleB]

129. Says who?

Children have played after dark for millennia.

[snooper2]

104. We had to make a rule, We had to make a rule, We had to make a rule

Good think I learned at an early age rules are made to be broken :rofl:

[Scout]

127. yeah, you were probably one of those obnoxious kids who the rest of them a bad name

:rofl:

[snooper2]

132. I grew up in the country...

Only rule we had was to watch out for water moccasins

[HuckleB]

133. Rules like this one certainly are...! -eom-

[and-justice-for-all]

83. "HOA Wants Kids Banned From Playing Outside"!!??

What the fuck is wrong with these people, that is just bloody absurd.

[ecstatic]

88. Have any of you seen the actual clip of the neighborhood?

I saw it on CNN today: it was complete chaos! Kids screaming, riding bikes in all different directions, running, jumping--a neighbor & driver's nightmare. However, the HOA is being unrealistic. I understand how annoying it can be to start off in a neighborhood that has no kids and gradually see a shift of kids everywhere. But they're just going to have to deal with or move. Get sound proof windows or a noise cancellation machine and drive very slowly! The only way to avoid kids around here is to live downtown in a high rise.

[HuckleB]

Hogwash.

[blondeatlast]

123. Of course, it was completely unedited for effect and stuff.

They take an hour of footage and break it down to a minute or two. Life ain't as efficient as a CNN editor.

[Sky Masterson]

91. They should be working and not playing!!!

lazy brats!!! :hide: :sarcasm:

[Skidmore]

92. I don't get people who cannot tolerate children.

We all were children once and children are the next generation...without them we would all be a bunch of crabby old people fighting for the pecking order in the cemetery.

Lighten up and let the children play while they can. There is no human sound on this earth that is more delightful than a child's laughter.

[Buns_of_Fire]

97. "Well, WE were never like that..."

That's the standard response I hear. Never made a sound. Never broke anything. Never rode a bike where they shouldn't oughta. Never did the generally stupid stuff that kids tend to do. Never never ever. Practically Perfect In Every Way, they were. Uh huh.

I AM a crabby old person and I don't understand it, either.

[Le Taz Hot]

96. Amazing.

This article says nothing about the age of the HOA members or the complainants, yet, post after post infers that it's "the elderly," or "old farts." One amazing post claims that the elderly should be locked away somewhere.

No ageism on DU. No sirree!! :puke:

[blueamy66]

99. I can speak for my HOA.

Every one of the "board" members is older than 60 and retired....every single one.

They patrol the neighborhood like the SS.

[Le Taz Hot]

101. How exactly does that relate to the fact that the article

said nothing about the age of the members of the HOA and the subsequent ageist posts based on an assumption?

[blueamy66]

103. Um, it's a well-known fact that

most HOA board members are older and retired and aren't fans of children. Who else has time to patrol the streets for weeds or a dead bush or basketball backboards? We got a violation notice cause we didn't apply to put up our backboard. Um, it has been up FOR 7 FREAKING YEARS, you dipshits.

That's how it relates. My posts aren't about assumptions....they're about FACTS.

I invite you to one of our board meetings....I'm in AZ....the next one is next month. Come on down. I have 2 spare bedrooms....you can stay in one. And you can see how old the board members are.

k?

[Le Taz Hot]

106. "It's a well-known fact . . ."

Oh boy! :eyes:

[blueamy66]

108. do your own study

Yeah, the associations are run by property management companies, but the board members are all retired, bored neighbors.

[Le Taz Hot]

109. Please cite your source.

Thanks so much.

[blueamy66]

110. You can come visit me too.

Sit in on a meeting with me.

It will be a hoot!

[Le Taz Hot]

112. Cite? Source?

I'll wait.

[blueamy66]

119. keep waiting

I've got to go to work to pay my HOA dues.

[snooper2]

105. Elderly don't need to be locked away..just give them Montana

no kids there :)

[Le Taz Hot]

107. I'm sure you just crack yourself up. n/t

[snooper2]

115. I do I do....!!!

:rofl:

want a joke?

[Le Taz Hot]

116. Let me know when you have one.

ba dump bump! Tsssss!

[snooper2]

120. here ya go

A drunk man who smelled like beer sat down on a subway seat next to a priest. The man's tie was stained, his face was plastered with red lipstick, and a half empty bottle of gin was sticking out of his torn coat pocket. He opened his newspaper and began reading. After a few minutes the man turned to the priest and asked," Say, Father, what causes arthritis?"

"My Son, it's caused by loose living, being with cheap, wicked women, too much alcohol, a contempt for your fellow man, sleeping around with prostitutes and lack of bath." "Well, I'll be damned," the drunk muttered, returning to his paper. The priest, thinking about what he had said, nudged the man and apologized. "I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to come on so strong. How long have you had arthritis?" "I don't have it, Father. I was just reading here that the Pope does."

[blondeatlast]

135. ...

:spray:

[blondeatlast]

121. Please don't--I spent the better part of my growing up years there. A river near our

house (same one that was in "A River Runs through It"), plenty of open space and a little town where we could do plenty of non-lasting, not too harmful mischief.

[tallahasseedem]

100. This is ridiculous...

some of my fondest childhood memories came from the incredible amount of time I spent outside. It forces kids to be creative, exercise and socialize without dealing with a "helicopter" parent. My kids are outside with their friends everyday, sometimes all day, playing with their friends. It's hilarious to watch them!

[Bettie]

102. Kid Hate....I don't get it

Kids can be obnoxious and loud. I know, I've got three of my own.

It is part of being a kid as is playing outside.

I am so glad we live in a small town where being a kid isn't against the law yet.

Oh, and the same people who say kids shouldn't play outdoors are probably the same people who complain that kids are fat and just sit in front of computers all day.

Someone said something about ageism and the elderly....doesn't ageism cut both ways? Kids are people too.

[Le Taz Hot]

111. That was me

and, yes it does cut both ways. Interesting that people who so vehemently defend the rights of children will so often disparage and want to lock away the elderly in the same breath -- and never see the conflict. :shrug:

[kiva]

117. Ageism about older people is easier,

because of the "we were all children once" meme; since many of the people saying this have no idea what it's like to be older, it doesn't work so well that way.

[Bettie]

118. The Elderly and the Kids need rights

But, in the end, the elderly vote and can advocate for their rights.

Kids cannot vote and there is such anger against them just for existing that it boggles my mind.

I don't think our elders should be locked up, but I also don't think our kids should be locked up.

(I suspect that the assumption that the HOA are primarily elderly is based on the fact that Florida is a retirement mecca rather than real antipathy toward the elderly in general.)

[blondeatlast]

122. Who's stopping you from playing outside? nt

[Luciferous]

113. Wow, I'm glad I don't have to deal with an HOA! I don't think I could

stand living in a place with ridiculous rules like that. I mean, come on. We already have an obesity epidemic in this country and now they want to ban kids from playing outside. So what's the alternative? Sit inside, play more video games, and get even fatter?!

[Xenotime]

124. The more control the better.

Perhaps there should only be designated play areas and times.

[HuckleB]

131. What a wonderful childhood that would be.

:sarcasm:

[LeftishBrit]

126. How ridiculous

They sound like villains out of a Roald Dahl book, or similar.

Maybe the one thing that would convince them to act differently is to be reminded that people with families won't want to move there, and therefore their house prices may go down!

[HuckleB]

137. A. YUP. -eom-